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food cravings

·October 24, 2025·4 min read

Brain Circuits Split Food Choices Between Sugar and Fat Cravings

A new study reveals that the brain uses two distinct neural pathways to regulate sugar and fat intake. In mice, glucoprivation—a drop in blood sugar levels—activates separate circuits in the hypothalamus: AMPK-regulated CRH neurons drive high-carbohydrate consumption, while MC4R-expressing neurons promote high-fat food intake.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 4, 2024·6 min read

Loneliness, Food Cravings, and the Brain

A new study reveals the link between loneliness, cravings for high-calorie foods, and unhealthy eating behaviors in women, highlighting a significant brain activity pattern associated with social isolation. The research found that women feeling lonely show increased brain activation in areas related to cravings when exposed to images of sugary foods, alongside decreased self-control towards eating.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 18, 2024·5 min read

Gut-Brain Network for Sugar and Fat Cravings Discovered

Researchers identified distinct neural pathways in the brain for fat and sugar cravings. This research reveals that separate circuits in the vagus nerve, originating in the gut, communicate information about consumed fats and sugars to the brain, triggering dopamine release in the brain's reward center.

This shows a woman surrounded by junk food.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 8, 2023·5 min read

Stressed Brains Amplify Comfort Food Cravings

Researchers uncovered how chronic stress in combination with high-calorie diets can amplify our brain's reward system, driving overeating and weight gain. They found that stress inhibits the lateral habenula, a brain area typically curbing such reward signals.

This shows a woman fixing a plate of food

Featured Neuroscience

·December 20, 2022·5 min read

Newly Identified Neuromarker Reveals Clues About Drug and Food Craving

Researchers have identified neural biomarkers associated with food and drug cravings. The findings could help pave the way for new treatments for addiction.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 7, 2022·6 min read

Cravings for Fatty Foods Traced to Gut-Brain Connection

Fat entering the intestines triggers a signal that is conducted across the neurons and to the brain, driving the desire for fatty foods.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 20, 2022·5 min read

Got Food Cravings? What’s Living in Your Gut May Be Responsible

Microbes in the gut influence what an animal chooses to eat. Altering the microbiome resulted in changes to preferred diets.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 4, 2022·4 min read

Neuronal Mechanisms That Control Food Cravings During Pregnancy Identified

A new study sheds light on the neurobiology of cravings for certain foods women experience while pregnant. According to researchers, during pregnancy, the brain undergoes alterations to functional connections in the reward systems, as well as taste and sensorimotor centers. Pregnant females become more sensitive to sweet foods and develop binge eating behaviors toward high-calorie foods. Pregnancy induces a full reorganization of the mesolimbic neural circuits via D2R dopaminergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens.

This shows neuroimaging of brain regions

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 2, 2021·3 min read

A Connection Between Brain’s Opioid System and Eating Behavior

The function of the opioid system is connected to eating triggered by external stimuli. The findings could lead to the development of new therapies that target the opioid system to reduce obesity.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 10, 2021·4 min read

Brainfood: Researchers Find Brain Area Associated with Craving Protein

Study reveals the role the ventral tegmental area of the brain plays in craving protein-rich foods.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·October 9, 2019·4 min read

Craving junk food after a sleepless night?

Sleep deprivation causes the olfactory system to go into overdrive, sharpening food odors, and breaking down communication within other brain areas that receive food signals.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 28, 2019·5 min read

Ack! I need chocolate! The science of PMS food cravings

From comfort eating to hormonal levels contributing to a desire for sweets, many studies have investigated why women with PMS often crave certain foods. Researchers explore why food cravings may occur, and what can be done to suppress them for women with premenstrual syndrome.